Cafe Madeleine
Categories: Bakeries, Coffee & Tea, Sandwiches [Edit]
Neighborhood: Financial District300 California St
(between Battery St & Sansome St)
San Francisco, CA 94104 (415) 362-3332
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 6:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. - Menu: MenuPages
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Wi-Fi: None
- Good for: Lunch
- Alcohol: None
261 reviews
Neighborhood: SOMA
"Wow.... one of my co-workers brought back to the office one day a killer sandwich (tuna melt with avacado) and some SWEET POTATO FRENCH…" read more »
105 Reviews for Cafe Madeleine
Cute Asian guy who serves me my cute little cakes and yummy sandwiches. Where did you go???
This is the best alternative to sweets in the financial district, without having to walk down to the Ferry building for dry, over frosted cupcakes. Favorites: Mango, the three chocolate cake and the hazelnut chocolate. MmmMmm good.
Friendly reminder: Go early to get your pick of desserts. Otherwise, you get left with the unpopular choices like in dodgeball.
I will have to update this review at another point in time, as I think I just made the wrong palatte choice for myself:
Wonderfully appealing dessert array that I'm dying to try, but I was good to my body and stuck with the Danielle prosciutto and Cambera cheese sandwich. The service was quick for to-go and the line moved quickly. Unfortunately, the amount of salt between the prosciutto and the ground olive paste was a little too overwhelming for me, but I'm beyond willing to go back and attempt a quiche for next time (with a little side dessert for my guilty pleasure).
After always wanting to visit this place, and try their pastries/desserts someone at work stopped there to get some cakes for someone celebrating their birthday at office. One cake was some kind of chocolate cake with strawberries, and what looked like raspberries. The other cake was a chestnut, vanilla cake. I'd have to say I was kinda disappointed. It's not that the cakes were totally bad, I guess I was just expecting more from what seems like a very popular place. I'll give three stars for now until I finally have the chance to visit and try other things there. So look for an edit of this review.
I have to admit this place is AWESOME!! The food is great but the pastries!!!!! OMG - I have gained at least five pounds since I have discovered CM 5 months ago!!!!! Jill who I think is the manager is just super woman!!! Honestly, she is better than super woman!!! I have not seen anyone work as hard as she does and still remember my name, my order, take 5 other orders, deal with vendors on the phone and make me an au-lait all at the same time!!!! There is a guy there too who's name I don't know but he is really great too!!!
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Am writing a review based on a triple chocolate mousse cake that a co-worker brought in from this place. Wow, soft and delicious. It wasn't overbearingly sweet either. I asked how much for this 8" round, around $40 she said, not cheap.
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Not only are the desserts delicious but so are the quiches with side salads. Dressing is a yummy honey dijon that has lots of flavor mixed in mixed greens. There ingredients are fresh and there crab asparagus quiche is real light and filling.
Some of the desserts aren't that great but the tiramisu, I think the triple chocolate, and the hazelnut are to die for. Mango mouse is alright along with the passion fruit. Each dessert piece is $5 and a whole cake depending on which one you buy ranges from 35 and up. Happy eatings!
Of the three Cafe Madeleine locations, this one is by far my favorite. Service is friendlier and the atmosphere is much more pleasing than the other two. I really enjoy sitting at the counter that looks out onto California St. and people watching.
All of their sandwiches are delicious and served on really fresh, high quality bread. The tuna with capers is good, but my absolute favorite is the pear and brie with walnut spread. So good it tastes like you're eating dessert.
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This review is solely for their Decadence cake. They definitely hit the nail on the head with this name, because this cake is truly pure decadence. It's made up of moist devils food cake with chocolate frosting and rows and rows of chocolate-dipped strawberries on top. Whenever we're celebrating birthdays or new babies or someone's last day on the job (could be a good celebration, if you want to look at it that way...) at work, a Decadence cake is always present. And the perfect thing to go along with such a delicious cake? A tall glass of ice cold milk. Mmmmmm...chooooocolate caaaaaaaake.
On the not-so-cheap side but you can't go wrong with lunch anything here. Friendly service.
JONASAPPROVED!
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Preach Diane P., Preach! decadence cake definitely rocks! Now, I've tried other stuff from here, it's ok, but wayyyyyy too pricey for my taste. So, like Diane P., my 5 stars go to the decadence cake!
I am new to the downtown area so I try to go to do different place every time a lunch opportunity comes up.
CM was good, but totally expected (paninis and salad, how original) and a too salty.
At this location they have some seating. Indoor: bar with 6-7 stools, one table that could seat 4 and about 4 two-person tables outside. But it was brrrrr out.
I really wanted a Starbucks black iced tea with double syrup and a little three pack of madeleines.
Instead, not knowing there was a Starbucks a block away, I ended up here. And so I asked for an iced tea. They didn't have anything that I wanted other than the bottled organic apple iced tea in the fridge. I bought it, tried it and didn't like it. Then the Madeleine I had, was dry and lacking in flavor.
This only made me long further for a Starbucks. (again, not knowing that there was one a block away). I know it's very bad of me to say it but when I go to Starbucks I know what I"m getting and there is something to be said for that. I know I'm unoriginal, I don't support the little mom and pop shops, but sometimes I just like what I like. I am a person of routine, or consistency and Starbucks never makes me wonder if what I ordered, I'm going to like.
In this case I like chains stores where I can always know what to expect.
Everything here though was super clean, neat, and the pastries looked divine. I am not opposed to coming back someday to try some pastries out. Also even though they were closing they let me run in to buy my stuff. And I would definitely come back though I wouldn't come when craving an iced tea or Madeleine.
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I ate here once - the quiche took forever. I think they were heating it up, but seriously, it shouldn't take 10 minutes to do that, throw it in a box and add a salad. It was good, but if you're busy, maybe try some place else that's faster.
I also ordered a cake here for my boss' going away party. It was really good, but kind of pricey for a smaller cake. They did fudge it up a little though. I asked for it to say "Good Luck Rachel" (and got a receipt with that message on it as well), but got a cake saying "Happy Birthday Rachel." It could have turned out worse, but I spent an extra $2 for the special message. And of course, I didn't notice until my boss saw the cake...luckily she had a sense of humor.
Updated: I'm adding another star, because I had a piece of their Triple Chocolate Cake and hot diggity damn. That was the most evil cake ever. I will have to run an extra mile tonight...
One of the great unspoken privileges of childhood is being able to put anything you like between two slices of bread and call it a sandwich without sideways glances from peers or authority figures. That part of us that dies as we grow older takes with it sandwiches filled with honey and banana slices and marshmallows and chocolate and we find ourselves old and serious, making do with deli meats and hard cheeses and lettuce and tomato. This is sad.
At first glance, Cafe Madeleine doesn't look remarkably different; Marble counters and neatly presented pastries and salads and servers in white smocks give the place a clean, professional look. But look a little more carefully at the unusually high ceilings, the tall mirrors and the long narrow lamps posted high on the walls. You feel a little like a 10 year old approaching the counter at a candy store.
I believe that it's entirely intentional. It's so that you can enjoy the chicken sandwich with melted brie and apple slices without stopping and saying to yourself 'Wait a minute, I have a grad degree and a mortgage and two direct reports and here I am eating a sandwich with apple slices in it!' You'll just go with it. You might even have a cup of the hot chocolate with whipped cream afterwards. You see, you're allowed to eat apple sandwiches at Cafe Madeleine.
They have grown up sandwiches with roast beef and cheddar and green salads as well, but so do lots of places. Will those other places give you what you really want without judgement?
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I HATE going there! The servers are stupid and rude as all hell. If you don't want to be in customer service- GET ANOTHER JOB! I get dragged there by other people who like the food but the experience is always so horrible I'm embarrassed for the people I'm with. And the food looks way better than it tastes. Just look at it as you walk by to a place that treats you like a human being- you'll be way better off.
Really delicious sandwiches and salads! Plus, all lunch items are under $8!
This place is as tasty and efficient as their New Montgomery location.
Just had their Triple Chocolate Cake for our Monthly Anniversaries party. It was so delicious!!!! I have to go there and get some once a week now.
Oh Cafe Madeline, how I love thee. Let me count the ways. Cafe Madeline is soo good that you will feel like you are having a hot steamy love affair because afterwards you will feel so guilty.
My lunchtime lover and I always joke how this place is just too cute for it's own good. It really is too cute. It's like a French Pastrie shop you would see while walking down the street in Paris. I absolutely adore this place.
Normally I come here for their tomato & mozzarella on ciabatta bread. They actually make it special for me. I've been here about 3 times, and the guy at the counter always jokes with me how i'm going to have "my usual." Let me just say he is great and always treats me very nicely!
One day my friend talked me into trying one of their divine perfections of art. Yes, I'm talking about their PASTRIES. Oh my!! So after about 5 minutes, I finally decided on the Cappuccino Espresso Meringue. It was sooo cute! It was sooo yummy. Uh. I could honestly devour their entire pastry case. Then as I snap out of my dream I say to my friend, uh now I'm going to have to go to the gym. My friend says okay work-out-a-holic. Then the guy at the counter, laughs and says what's wrong with eating pastries? He says he eats pastries all the time. We laugh and I say he should go to the gym too. He doesn't know my mean sense of humor so I should have probably refrained and ate my pastry before letting my tongue slip.
Everything about Cafe Madeline's is cute!!! The only thing you have to watch out for are the snooty patooonies who think they are better than everyone else in the Fidi District. Occasionally you may run into a nice person, but I highly doubt it.
Had their grilled roast beef sandwich as it's pretty good. nice quality and amount of meat. At $7.32 for a sandwich, you expect a good experience and this item meets the expectation and then some. Fairly quick service dury the lunch rush. Cookies looked real nice and will try them another time.
I like the concept of this place and the variety of sandwiches however what I find as a downside is that they use the microwave to heat up the tuna sandwhich before putting it on the panini grill thus sometimes there are cold pockets in the tuna filling. Ugh! I'll still go back if I need to get a quick bite to eat. I love the desserts there. :-)
Cafe Madeleine is across the street from work and so it's inevitable that I go here for lunch - especially on days where weather or mere laziness restricts us to venture elsewhere. Salads and panini sandwiches are pretty standard and safe bets for the usual lunch crowd.
I think I would give it 3 stars, but I recently tried their cafe mocha for the first time, and must say that their coffee drinks are pretty solid and thus, the 4 stars. I haven't tried their desserts yet (and I probably shouldn't) but they all look pretty good as well.
Clean, convenient, high-quality and efficient sums up the place - can't ask for much else for an ideal breakfast/lunch place in the Financial District.
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They have great desserts! I ordered a whole tiramisu cake for my sister's birthday. A little on the pricey side, turned out to be about $35 for an 8" cake, but this is one of those fancy "patisserie" like places so it's sort of expected. I must say the cake was delicious, but not the best tiramisu I've ever had. It was solid and wasn't too creamy or too soaked. It's a cute little shop in the middle of financial district with other locations in the city. They serve coffee, sandwiches, and such, but I haven't gone around to trying anything besides their desserts. However, it does seem to get busy during lunch rush. Service was good, but maybe that's because I went to high school with one of them. Perhaps I'll try their lunch menu one day.
I have never had their lunch items, but I am giving them 5 stars based solely on their mochas and desserts! And their Viennese coffee is amazing. Although I have never paid for any cakes here (I hear they are pricey), my company seems to like this place so I have been lucky. Aside from the food, I love to look at all the little desserts in the display when waiting for my order. They are like little art pieces.
Ugg, I can't believe some of the people who write reviews on Yelp! Denise Q that you would give Cafe M a bad review because it isn't Starbucks! How lame! Thank god we have some places that are still not corporate owned and all the same. But to review someone like that is totally unfair. If you want Starbucks then go there, HELLO, ask someone on the street where one is, if that is what your heart desires, I'm sure you can find one, they are everywhere!
Even if the madelenes were "dry and lacking in flour", doesn't that seem like an oxymoron somehow, at least they didn't come in plastic with preservatives from some oven who knows where.
Three cheers for anything that isn't Starbucks and anything that has some San Francisco character!
A quaint place to catch a bite to eat. Ordered the tuna and caper sandwich and two friends ordered the apple chicken sandwich. I ended up liking the apple chicken over my order- who knew apples in a sandwich would taste so good. The sandwiches are also a great size for the price. On my next visit, I have to make sure to try the dessert.
*3.5 stars*
I came here for the hot chocolate, expecting a super rich, almost dessert like drink... it wasn't what I was hoping for but was still pretty good.
And since one shouldn't have hot chocolate alone for lunch, I got the grilled fresh mozzarella & tomato sandwich. By the time I reached the office, the bottom piece of bread was soggy. Not good. If it wasn't for that, it was quite good. Next time I should just eat the hot sandwiches there or just order their cold sandwiches (which also sound good).
Oh, about 1.5 years ago, I got one of their oh-so-cute cakes, which I wasn't too impressed with. It was pink, I think. Maybe a guava cake?? Anyway, I probably should have ordered something chocolaty.
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For my birthday cake this year, I got the raspberry truffle chocolate cake. I must say that it was delicious. The truffle tasted great. It would have gotten 5 stars if the cake itself was a bit more moist. As it is, i thought it was a bit dry. The cake also looked amazing. I will def. be back for more.
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I'm reviewing their scrumptious mochas. Lookit, I'm not a chocoholic but even I can't deny that they have the bestest mochas I've ever tasted. And if you're going to get one, might as well indulge and get the chocolate whipped cream on top. Yum!!
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Their tiramasu and their key lime pie was all so good. I can't wait to try one of their desserts called jealousy which is like peach and chocolate mouse and oh yeah their white chocolate cake thing called santeen. I know I am pretty bad. Maybe it's about time I stick to doing more yoga. Plus their coffee is quite strong, the way I like it.
Sweets and cheese. Need I say more?
You can get a heavenly snack with a cappuccino if you so choose...or a piece of quiche and a salad for lunch...or a salad mixed with a marinated batch of yummy portobello mushrooms.
I opted for a grilled sandwich. Good bread, good cheese, no flattened meat or skimpy dressing. Just a simply tasty lunch, with a bottle of water for under $8.
Minus one star only bc there's not much room to sit there. It's more of a grab and go type place, unless you like stalking people and giving them the hairy "gimme your seat now" eyeball if they linger too long with crumbs on their chin.
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I can't say enough good things about this place... the baked goods are superb and beautiful and then the lunch items are over the moon. EAT THERE SOON!
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I'll admit that I've walked by this place a thousand times and have never gone in. It's the name. And the logo. It's too damn cute for its own good. It just had this French Hello Kitty vibe that I couldn't condone.
It took a year but I eventually got to the point that I'd gotten tired of everything else in walking distance of my office and thought I'd give Cafe Mad a whirl. So glad I did.
They offer sandwiches (grilled or cold), salads, soups and fabulous baked goods in both individual sizes and cakes that would be the hit of any office party. Or any other party for that matter. Oh, and the biscotti are really tasty. Come here for coffee and grab one sometime.
Add to this some nice outdoor seating and the strikingly gorgeous Asian woman working the counter and you have a nice experience.
I'll be back. Until I burn out on it and return to Soup Freaks.
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I have not been ignoring you, I promise. I just need to get over the fact your delicious mushroom quiche was the final straw that sent me to emergency gall bladder surgery.....YES, it's that chocked full of yummy butter.
Now that I'm sans gall bladder however, I can eat you as often as I want & oh how I want, I waaaaannnnnt.
They have an equally yummy tomato & feta quiche on which I plan to indulge as soon as I get over this weird mental thing which is preventing me from walking through your door......but I'll be back, oh yes, I'll be back!
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Tried out Cafe Madeleine today with a former co-worker. We came here after the rush of the lunch hour, so we were able to grab a counter spot. I ordered the Chicken Sandwich with Brie and Apples. She ordered the Cobb Salad. My sandwich was delicious! Just enough brie, and who knew that apples would taste so perfect in a grilled focaccia sandwich?
Her salad didn't look so happy though. Maybe it tasted better than it looked. I ordered my sandwich because the only dressings available for the salads were a mustard vinaigrette and ranch [balsamic vinaigrette is also available!] - I was feeling like neither, so I skipped out on some tasty-sounding salads [The arugula salad is pretty tasty!].
There are multiple locations [3 in total, I think]. The pastries are all made by one person and delivered to the various locations. So they should be somewhat consistent. Once they're out, they are OUT though. So hurry in if you have a favorite cake!
I will definitely be back for more.
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mango cake makes me smile... heheee...
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REVISED on 2/25/2008
just had a cake from crixa... and they re-defined how a good cake should be... Sorry madeline... downgrading you to a 3 stars, 3.5 stars to be exact but there's no such thing... still love the mango cake tho... but i'm dreaming about the amarretti cream cake at crixa....
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It's like a fancy grilled cheese.
It's the fresh mozzerella, tomato and pesto aioli panini grilled to prefection and thrown into a little white bag that I carry back to my office to devour.
One day, it rained.
And they had tomato basil soup.
So i got my fancy pants grilled mozzerella and a cup of the soup, went back to my office damp and cold, opened my white bag and dipped my sandwhich into the soup and...and..the smell, the heavenly smell, the cheesy glooping out in steamy melty strings, the tomatos, the crispy fresh bread and the SOUP...omg the soup...
and the scalding sensation of the insides of my mouth burning flesh as I do not know how to wait patiently for my lunch to NOT HURT ME.
Thank god for the Pear Izze.
I am giving them a low score because of a very bad service issue experience today during lunchtime. First of all there was no line and 3 people at the register. 1) the previous customer, 2) my co-worker and 3) myself. The cashier that appeared to be of an asian decent took my order while she was not completed finished with the previous customer, and that would be fine and dandy had she not been rude to the customer and act as if the customer was wrong. The customer asked her about her change and the cashier snapped at her something in a tone of voice that was unneccesary and went on about correcting the price of her order, waving around the money and replied that she will get her change, just be patient. The customer was in her right and the cashier did not handle the situation tactfully, instead she was unprofessional and shockingly rude, I am trying to use nice words. After that the cashier held on to her pride and unpleasantness by throwing things around as if she was in a race to get things done even if it was early, we arrived there before the lunch rush? The customer that she insulted took her money and left, and we apologized to her before she left, then we were standing there in awe wondering if we really experienced this act of unkindness and we did, also when my co-workers lunch came she did not call it out just tossed the bag to the front with no eye contact and a angry face as continued writing something down, there is a time and place for multi-tasking and it can be done with a smile on your face not a I do not want to be here and I do not like people attitude. She must be a newbie trying to not sure what she is trying to do, hmm maybe bring down the business with that type of attitude. I cannot complain about anything except for having this experience today. Oops my co-worker just reminded me that after these 3 transactions which included touching the register and money, she then went directly to place cookies from the counter in the display window, then back to the rushing and throwing around of other things so that means unwashed hands and no gloves were worn. She was not the only employee there either and the employees were just quiet, and seemed a bit embarrased of her action. She is probably the new manager and a oh well thats all ima gonna say about that you can figure out the rest : )
They reheat their milk to make cappuccinos. I can't return.
I can only speak with authority about their cakes, despite the fact that I have drooled from affar over their lunchtime selection. It's not easy to find a variety of tasty, attractive, non-safeway style cakes for your office's monthly birthday bashes. For a while I was forced to dash around the city in a rather ridiculous attempt to maintain variety and delight. Cafe Madeleine was the first place I found (and now the only place I patronize) that had a large selection of creative, beautiful, and reasonably priced cakes. They're not cheap, but nor are they the $70 that some artisinal SF shops like to charge. And they are delicous.
I got addicted to capuccino because of Cafe Madeleine! And I usually not a fan of cakes or sweets, but I looooooove their cakes!
Thank you for the sweet inspiration!
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